The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality announced Friday that its Division of Marine Fisheries’ Artificial Reef Program had sunk a tugboat this week at an offshore artificial reef.
The tug, the Thomas Dann, was sunk Thursday at artificial reef AR-305 off Cape Lookout.
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The 106-foot-long tugboat was built in 1981 but suffered a catastrophic fire in 2016.
The vessel was then donated to the Reef Program by Marinex Construction Co. of Charleston, South Carolina.
State officials said that, before sinking, the vessel was cleaned extensively in accordance with Environmental Protection Agency requirements. Steven’s Towing completed preparation and scuttling of the vessel.
The Thomas Dann joins two other vessels at AR-305, the 183-foot Spar and the 439-foot Aeolus, sunk in 2004 and 1988, respectively. The site also contains 1,700 tons of donated recycled concrete deployed in July 2023.
The site is located approximately 28 nautical miles south of Beaufort Inlet in 105 feet of water and is a popular site for fishermen and divers. The approximate position of the Thomas Dann is 34 degrees, 16.637 minutes north, -76 degrees 38.395 minutes west.
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The state defines an artificial reef as a manmade underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom.
North Carolina’s 72 artificial reefs serve as crucial spawning and foraging habitat for many commercially and recreationally important fish species, officials said.
